


The Legend of Zeno: The Battle for Life in the face of Entropy

by PrimesMakePi



Category: Religion & Lore - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Existentialism, Gen, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science Fiction, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-10-28 02:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20771372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrimesMakePi/pseuds/PrimesMakePi
Summary: The land of Jericho has a proud history of strength and culture. However when a wandering philosopher challenges their beliefs about their place in the world, both go on a journey of self-discovery. Is Zeno someone to be hated, respected or feared or are they a nobody?





	1. A noble land

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15675621) by [The_Carnivorous_Muffin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Carnivorous_Muffin/pseuds/The_Carnivorous_Muffin). 

Disclaimer: Any resemblance of people, institutions or events to reality might not be a miracle, but please don't read too much into similarities that may be more fantasy than fiction. 

The history of the great Jericho seems familiar

* * *

“So who can tell me why the Jerichoan Empire was dismantled?”

It was a summer noon and the sun was hot and the air was dusty despite the lack of wind. Market-goers could see old women congregating to take a tea break to chat in the shade of cloth canopies that hung over shop storefronts. Some truant children were playing a game of football with a smart dog that knew to pass and kick the ball into the net. School was in session in Jericho.

For Rathaniel and Sablo, this meant they were in history class when they wanted to be out under the blue sky. After all, the confined space of the classrooms could be even more hot and humid than outside. It might seem astonishing that in this day and age they didn’t have some technology to cool down the room, but the council had said that reducing use of air conditioning was part of their energy saving plan. Some members of the public suspected that the council were trying to siphon off energy from the community for their supercomputer projects, such as cracking codes for use to contribute to crypto-currencies. But that technology was only a few years old and few people understood it, assuming they’d even heard about it.

“Was it because of the Nicomachean revolts? I heard that we didn’t have enough soldiers to control such a large land, so we tried to set up trading relations instead. Those could be beneficial to both sides?” a student replied.

The teacher took a pause before writing on the board “Factors for the dismantling of the Jerichoan Empire”, dividing it into two columns of “Push” and “Pull”.

“That’s a good answer, and all your points are valid, but they are not the most important ones.” the teacher spoke authoritatively, noting the revolt in the “Push” column and mutually beneficial trade in the “Pull” column. They continued:

“Over the last few generations, there has been a liberal movement in Jericho to dismantle the empire in favour of the notion of “Human Rights”." the teacher said, adding this in bold capitals to the "Pull" column.

"This includes the democratic process of allowing local people to choose their leaders and the way they would be governed. Most people now believe that they have this right, and that it improves happiness, general well-being and accountability of the government." These three were written down and connected by lines to "Democracy".

"But we haven’t always had “Human Rights”, so to be responsible about being a participating citizen, you should really understand why we are so fortunate to have such privileges now. Jericho was the first nation to introduce democracy and has led the way in spreading this gift to other nations.”

The people of Jericho knew their nation was world-famous for its strength. It had once controlled a vast empire for centuries though the empire was no longer around for a complex mix of reasons as different colonies receded. The Nichomacheans had believed the purpose of human existence lay in a “flourishing” spirit and character and skill, and though their revolt was easily put down, many peoples, even at home in Jericho, were influenced by their arguments that governments should work towards a common goal of goodness for all, and not just for the Jerichoan masters.

Still, even after the dismantling of the empire and subsequent transitions of power, Jericho remained a dominant nation in global politics and economy. It had the expertise to produce high quality cars, phones and TVs from natural resources that it could import from contacts in the nations it had once colonised. And it was often seen as a neutral but responsible third party that could help resolve political disputes. Of course, there were still those who called for a re-establishment of the empire, but they were mostly in older generations. Few people listened to them.

The people were on the whole privately proud of their nation, but in public also discussed their shame at committing human rights atrocities in the imperial era that still haunted their collective conscience. They were now more proud of their part in promoting the liberal values of political freedom, democracy and free markets and thereby, in their view at least, improving the lives of humankind worldwide.

______

“Same propaganda as always, eh?” Rathaniel muttered.

After class finished, Rathaniel and Sablo would normally take a drink in the shade and talk a little. The sweet lemon cordial was a popular choice from the school canteen.

In the courtyard, Rathaniel took a thin branch that had fallen off a cypress tree and poked it at two overgrown lizards that were fighting over some food, probably a rat. The metre long lizards hissed before they both backed off.

“I wonder if I could teach them to share like my mum is always going on about.” Rathaniel explained.

“It looks more like they gave up the rat for you to eat.” Sablo said. They had an unusual accent that tilted the tone higher at the end, but no-one really knew where it was from.

“Eurgh, don’t be disgusting. Canteen food is bad enough! The meat is always too chewy and the vegetables never have any flavour.”

Sablo laughed.

It was then that they saw some kids in their class blocking the path of a new student.

“The newbie looks weird. What’s up with them?” Sablo said.

“That’s a Zen. There aren’t many in Jericho.”

“Where do they come from then?”

“Somewhere to the East or something. There’s loads of them there, so it’s probably no wonder they want to move out.”

The Zen tried to get past, but the kids moved to block their way again.

“Shouldn’t we say something?” Sablo said.

“Who cares, it’s a Zen. They’re quiet and creepy and might be dangerous. There’s loads of gangs and drugs in Zen. Then they come here and take our jobs, money and mates.” Rathaniel said, taking care to put their finished drink in the recycling bin. “Let’s go practise our lines for the play.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my first attempts at writing fiction. I like to contemplate the meaning of maths and physics and their place in society, and was particularly inspired by the progress of AI research over the past decade. Also, I hope to touch on some issues such as immigration, climate change and religion. And meaning of life in the face of unbeatable entropy and inevitable heat death.
> 
> \- My intent is that Zeno is partially inspired by Carnivorous Muffin's Rabbit (I'm a fan!) and also of course Zen, Zeno and myself. I'll try to keep Zeno gender neutral  
\- I aim for a tone of Greek epic/biblical narrative while discussing issues  
\- This may be a bit of a bizarre love story between two cultures from Zeno's perspective.
> 
> At least those are some vague ideas. I don't really know if this is going anywhere, and it could be terrible.


	2. A plot brewing

In which we delve into Jerichoan society and culture

* * *

The politics of Jericho was dominated by its constitutional law, a series of documents cobbled together by successive parliaments. The versions from the last few years included the mission statement for the government:

  * Protecting its citizens from external threats
  * Maintaining social order and justice
  * Providing services such as water supply, waste collection, education and healthcare
  * Safeguarding the fundamental human rights of all its citizens.

The parliament was selected by elections with a delegate from each of the several thousand districts that Jericho was split into. Most of the delegates were elderly men who had spent their whole lives in politics rising from positions that ranged from supporting local council members to mayorships of small towns. Many of the others had been leaders of religious communities. The parliament would elect its Chief Executive who would then choose the Executive Council members to be responsible for directing each of the government departments. The parliament would then vote on new bills to pass or reject new laws or government actions.

Each government department would have a large staff to implement government decisions and to collect statistics to measure their progress and impact. These departments would communicate with the political branches of lobbying groups such as business representatives and religious representatives. They would share their latest data, and also their thoughts on what the future direction of government should be, and how to implement it. This is where the fiercest debates would be held, and any agreements would be passed back up to the chain of command in the Executive Council as advice or recommendations.

In the East End of the capital Jericho City was a hill of greenery and perfumed gardens. Within it stood the parliament building, an iconic white marble fortress that had its back to the Table-Top Mountain. This placed it away from the busy rumblings of industry and fishing and shipping on the West Coast, and also allowed it to have an early view of trucks carrying mined material that would arrive at the eastern Gate of Dawn. There were tell-tale signs it had been built before the Imperial era, such as its colonnades of vaulted Ionic columns supporting arched gateways that led to tall bronze doors. On the roof, dignified figures of wise deities watched austerely over the rest of the city.

The building itself had five storeys but as the halls were expanded to emphasise a sense of grandeur, it could be mistaken for a ten-storey building, a presence that would have been visible anywhere in the city before the modern skyscrapers. But rumour was that there were far more levels below ground, storing information too secret for the public in catacombs built by the ancients. After all, its location was on an ancient settlement, and towering ruins could still be seen all around the Table-Top mountain. How the ancients had managed to not just survive in such an arid place, but to have such a flourishing culture as to build great constructions, no-one knew.

In parliament, today was a day as unusual as any other. In the chambers, journalists mixed with delegates in a loud hubbub. In the corridors, there were people walking as fast as another might run. In your office, a cup of coffee would have already been made for you from the morning tea trolley. At your computer, your inbox would be busy with requests for meetings. Neighbouring voices would be complaining about how things kept going wrong even with more money and time spent on a top priority project. A statistician might come by asking you to submit a data report. And the office cat would still turn a steely stare if you didn’t give it enough attention. But there would always be something different about each day that you wouldn’t expect.

Today, the latest news to trouble the Foreign Office was from the land of Zen. In Jericho, most people thought that even if they didn’t know much about Zen, there was obviously an expert who would know, so it didn’t bother them much. But even to ministry officials, Zen was a mysterious land that few people had ever visited. Only in recent years had there been some diplomatic exchanges, with Jericho inviting some Zen in to settle and exchange culture. But the ambassadors to Zen had just been thrown out. The word was that they had been too forceful in negotiating to buy more silk. Jerichoans liked to import the rare Zen silk as no-one knew the secret of its production. The wealthy wanted clothes fit for an emperor.

This was causing plenty of anger at the Foreign Office. Who did the Zen think they were? There were mutters of retaliating using force. Some secretly admired their fighting spirit.

It wasn’t going much better for Cahethal, a data analyst in the Department for Food. The last few years hadn’t produced much rainfall, and Greek plantations were suffering. The price of olive oil was sure to go up, making it more expensive for everyone to cook and bathe. They were almost missing the boring problems of regulating food quality that had troubled them in recent years.

As with most people, they felt inspired and in awe when working in a place of such great knowledge, and there was no better place than the library. The library chalkboard was full of scribbled equations from a day of brainstorming ways to predict rainfall from weather data. They needed to spare the expense of using paper not just for the environment, but due to their meagre salary. It was a process of guessing possible patterns, finding a model to apply such a theory, and computing its predictions. Cahethal had studied hard and could almost always recognise the names of different models that had proven successful in the past, but it was impossible to remember all their details, definitions and data requirements. So, every hour or so, they would need to look up references to models or mathematical theorems in the books.

With all their worries, it wasn’t really a relief to see the Sun go down, signalling the time to stop working and go home.


End file.
